Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission should move to ease bottlenecks at aluminum
warehouses as it bolsters oversight of banks’ trading and
storage of commodities, Senator Sherrod Brown said today.

The CFTC “must take a more aggressive stance” to rein in
banks’ role in the markets, Brown said in a statement after
meeting with Sharon Y. Bowen and J. Christopher Giancarlo, who
are awaiting Senate confirmation to serve on the commission.

“There seems to be no clear benefit to the economy from
banks owning assets like warehouses, tankers, pipelines, and
coal mines,” said Brown, an Ohio Democrat who has held hearings
on the issue.

U.S. regulators including the Federal Reserve and CFTC have
been reviewing banks’ involvement in commodity markets. The CFTC
issued subpoenas last year to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan
Chase & Co. and other metal-warehouse operators after brewer
MillerCoors LLC and others complained of long waits for
materials.

The Fed sought comment Jan. 14 on the risks posed by
ownership and trading of commodities such as oil, gas and
aluminum by deposit-taking banks and the possible benefits of
imposing additional capital standards.

The Fed’s review was criticized by Brown and Senator
Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, who said the action
didn’t go far enough.